Respawn Is Retiring Apex Legends' Old Matchmaking System, Here's Why

Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment just announced significant changes to the game's matchmaking system. The update was shared via a tweet from the developer's official Twitter account, and featured a link to an in-depth FAQ that gave further details on the matchmaking changes, some of which have already gone into effect.

But there are even more changes on the Horizon, according to the blog post (which was primarily written by Respawn's technical director Samy Duc. According to Duc, "Apex Legends currently makes matches using your pre-made party’s best player’s skill rating, and our system does consider your pre-made squad’s size when matching you with opponents."

"We are continuously testing and iterating on our matchmaking systems in the live game to figure out what works best," Duc continued. "In fact, many changes have already been tested and rolled out in various regions for Ranked and regular Pub games."

Still, Duc acknowledged that there's room for improvement. Apex's matchmaking system has never been flawless, but players seemed to be running out of patience throughout much of 2022, with complaints being aimed at Respawn on Twitter, in YouTube comments sections, and in the official Apex Legends subreddit on a regular basis.

Some things Respawn is hoping to improve in terms of skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) are the way the matchmaking algorithm works in Ranked vs. non-Ranked gameplay, and the way pre-made squads are sorted into the mix--one major point of contention among players is how unplayable the game is when you get sorted into a lobby with overpowered pre-made squads.

"To remedy this, our new matchmaking algorithm will do a much better job at compensating for the competitive advantage that premade duos and trios have," Duc explained in the blg post. We’ve done the science to quantify this advantage, and we’ve been experimenting with a new system that can continuously learn and update over time. We expect this new algorithm to start rolling out worldwide early 2023."

This means the algorithm will take into account the innate advantage pre-made squads have when matchmaking, ultimately leading to less encounters between under-prepared, randomly-assembled squads of strangers and pre-made squads consisting of good friends who are usually using a mic and communicating clearly.

But squad composition isn't the only variable developers are facing: The game's various modes have also posed a challenge.

"Each mode has completely different skill rating systems and also different matching algorithms. That needs to end with our new matchmaking system," Duc wrote. "Moving forward, all matchmaking will use the same skill rating technology, but each mode will use different tuning values based on what works best for that mode. This will allow us to more rapidly improve Apex Legends’ matchmaking across the board."

The blog post went on to announce that the current SBMM algorithm is being "retired," with the new system taking its place. The matchmaking change has been a staggered rollout, meaning not every region has access to the new algorithm. Duc didn't mention exactly which regions have rolled out the new algorithm, nor did he specify when the new algorithm was expected to be live on all platforms.

"We’re not done--you can expect more matchmaking refinements to come in the near future," Duc wrote in the blog post.

Although the developer didn't say exactly when the algorithm change would be fully implemented, he did present a great deal of graphs showing the results of extensive testing of the new SBMM algorithm, and the results are quite promising. Duc did imply that the rollout would be complete this year, so players shouldn't be too worried--especially since the algorithm is currently live in some regions.

"We are in the process of retiring our old Skill Based Matchmaking system for a new one that more accurately groups our players based on skill, and thus lets our matchmaking algorithm make better decisions when forming groups," Duc said in the blog post. "The end goal is to create fairer matches and experiences that are more fun for all."

If you're looking for more precise statistics regarding the new algorithm's performance, you can find further details on the future of the matchmaking system in Respawn's blog post, which provides a great deal of data, all neatly organized into easy-to-understand graphs.

Apex Legends is free to play on console and PC. A mobile version of the game, Apex Legends Mobile, is available for download on Android and iOS devices.